1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for packing products such as a computer monitor, a television, a washing machine, a dehydrating machine and so on, with buffering materials mounted thereon and a method for controlling the packing apparatus. More particularly, it relates to a method for easily changing a working position and a packing position of products that are completely fabricated through a fabricating process, to thereby more conveniently pack the products and control the packing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a great number of parts are fabricated and formed as products through a fabricating line, i.e., a fabricating system in which processes or steps of a packing process are performed in order. The fabricating line provides specialized processes for mass production.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,503 to Anderson et al., entitled Flat Turret Transporting Mechanism, disclose a flat turret transporting mechanism for transporting an article. The apparatus includes a conveyor and a means for driving the conveyor synchronously and intermittently at least two driving positions along a path having a plurality of work stations. The apparatus will intermittently move the article from one work station to another with the conveyor being substantially completely driven without any drive function being associated therewith. Also, a vertical adjustment of the transporting mechanism with respect to a moving package to be wrapped in conjunction with a wrapping machine is disclosed.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,568 to Christian, entitled Pallet Positioner, discloses a pallet positioner used to locate a pair of pallets in selected positions on a turntable of a concrete pipe making machine. The pallet positioner has a frame supported for vertical movement on upright supports below the turntable. A hydraulic cylinder is disclosed as being connected to the frame operates to move the frame up and down, with a pallet guide and positioning structure connected to the frame being moved up through holes in the turntable to support pallets above the turntable.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,861 to Fukunaga et al., entitled Packing Method And Packing Apparatus, discloses a packing method and packing apparatus, wherein a substance to be packed is carried from a carrying-in section in which the substance is carried to a position under a packing section where a film stands by in a horizontally stretched stated. The substance to be packed is lifted to the film and is covered on the upper surface with the film, and the end portions of the film are folded under the bottom portion of the substance to be packed. The packing method and packing apparatus of Fukunaga et al. are for a no-tray system for directly packing a substance to be packed without a tray. In Fukunaga et al., an article is carried in and placed on a carrying-in section and is received on a carrying base, and the carrying base is moved to a packing section where a film is drawn and stretched, to carry the substance to be packed to the packing section.
Some of the processes on the fabricating line are numerically controlled by robots, some of them are performed by apparatuses including cylinders, motors, or solenoids, and some of them are manually performed. In general, such as for relatively larger articles, product packing processes are manually performed. However, the manually performed packing process suffers from several disadvantages.
Typically, products are packed by operators as follows. First the product is covered with a vinyl cover, with two or four pieces of buffering materials being mounted on the comer portions of the product covered with the vinyl cover. Then, the product with the vinyl cover and the buffering materials is packed with or in a box.
At this time, the product is loaded on a pallet that is a moving member of a conveyor. In order to cover the product with the vinyl cover and in order to mount the buffering materials on the comer portions of the product, the operator typically has to tilt the product forward and behind, and right and left. This is very cumbersome and time consuming work. Moreover, some products are so large and heavy that the operator cannot do the packing job alone, requiring the packing job to be generally performed by two operators. This generally causes loss of labor efficiency and can result in reduced process efficiency and increased cost.
Moreover, in the event that the product is too large and heavy to be lifted by the operator, the product typically is displaced or removed from the fabricating line and packed by separately installed packing equipment. This also results in increased cost.